- 作者：Celestino Pio Lombardi ; Marco Raffaelli ; Carmela De Crea ; Lucia D'Alatri ; Daria Maccora ; Maria Raffaella Marchese ; Gaetano Paludetti ; Rocco Bellantone
- 刊名：Surgery
- 出版年：2009
- 出版时间：December 2009
- 年：2009
- 卷：146
- 期：6
- 页码：1174-1181
- 全文大小：148 K
Background
Voice and swallowing symptoms are frequently reported early after thyroidectomy even in the absence of laryngeal nerves injury. We evaluated the short-term and long-term outcomes of these functional alterations.Methods
Consenting patients undergoing total thyroidectomy (TT) were enrolled. Videolaryngostroboscopy (VSL), acoustic voice analysis (AVA), and maximum phonation time (MPT) were performed pre-operatively, 3 months postoperatively, and >1 year postoperatively. Subjective evaluation of voice (Voice Impairment Score = VIS) and swallowing (Swallowing Impairment Score = SIS) were obtained pre-operatively, as well as 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, and >1 year postoperatively.
Results
The long-term evaluation was completed in 110 patients. The percentage of patients with symptoms 1 week after operation was significantly higher than preoperatively, whereas it was significantly lower at long-term evaluation. VIS was significantly worse than pre-operatively, 1 week, 1 month, and 3 months after surgery, but it was similar to pre-operative >1 year after TT. SIS was significantly worse 1 week after thyroidectomy but not 1 month and 3 months after thyroidectomy, and it was significantly lower than the pre-operative >1 year after TT.
Conclusion
Vocal and swallowing symptoms are frequent after TT. In the absence of laryngeal nerve injury, after an initial impairment, late after operation, patients experienced subjective amelioration of their voice and swallowing performances, which may be related to the resolution of compressive symptoms.